BG buys deepwater exploration stakes off Canada

LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - BG Group said on Monday
it had acquired stakes in three exploration blocks off the coast
of Canada's Newfoundland months before its planned merger with
Royal Dutch Shell.

The British oil and gas company bought from Spain's Repsol
the non-operated positions in the Atlantic basin,
located around 200 kilometres from St. John's, Newfoundland, it
said.

"This provides the company with access to early stage
exploration in a proven prospective basin ahead of the first
well being drilled later this year," it said in a statement.

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

The three blocks are operated by Norwegian energy company
Statoil.

Shell is on track to complete its proposed $70 billion
acquisition of BG group in early 2016, but BG said it was "in
line" with its strategic exploration focus to enter new basins.

Oil companies have sharply slashed exploration budgets over
the past year in response to the halving of oil prices to below
$50 a barrel since June 2014.

Shell said on Monday it is pulling out of exploration in
Arctic waters off Alaska for the foreseeable future and could
take a hit of up to $4.1 billion after failing to find enough
oil.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Tom Heneghan)